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After 50 years ... A tribute to Kathy Kelly

Kathy Kelly in the newsroom, 1982.

News-Journal file

Published: Sunday, January 27, 2013 at 5:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, February 1, 2013 at 6:23 p.m.

Assistant Managing Editor Kathy Kelly will retire from The News-Journal on Friday, capping a journalism career that began when she was 16 and led her to become an award-winning police reporter. She also connected readers with the area's history, and shared her views on life, home and friendship through her column, "The Beat Goes On," which will continue in The News-Journal. Even more important for those who worked with her, Kelly was the glue that held the newsroom together.

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LIGHTING A FIRE

Annye Piggotte was Kathy Kelly's English teacher at Mainland High School. She remembers Kelly asking her one day if she should try to be a high school correspondent for The News-Journal, writing up little items about high school happenings for the newspaper.

"At first she was a little reluctant," Piggotte recalled, "and I said, 'Go for it, girl,' and she's been with them ever since."

Just weeks after starting as a high school correspondent during her senior year, Kelly was hired by The Evening News on Sept. 28, 1963, as a "copy kid," taking stories from the newsroom to the composing room to be prepared for print. Two years later, Kelly joined the reporting staff and covered the police beat for more than 20 years. In the 1990s, she moved into editing and became an assistant managing editor in 1999.

Over the years, Kelly and Piggotte have stayed in touch, and share a love of books and reading.

"Kathy has always been loyal and dependable. She is a devoted friend, a lover of good literature and an avid reader. She has always taken her work seriously and she has always been concerned that she represent her community in a positive light," she said.

EARNING RESPECT

Dotti Lewis, community mental health activist and long-time political consultant, worked at The News-Journal from 1952 to 1974 as a reporter and editor.

"I guess I was a 'mentor,' of sorts to her," Lewis said about Kathy Kelly. "When she arrived, I was still a reporter and I had the fun of taking her around the police beat, which is where all new reporters started. This pretty teenager, straight out of high school, very politely introduced herself to the cops, deputies and FBI agents — but made it very clear even then that she was very serious about being a journalist.

"She told them she was going to print only the truth, but all the facts of every story. This drew many grins behind her back, but the law enforcement guys soon learned she was serious, and she gained both their respect and friendship.

"(Former News-Journal owner and publisher) Tippen Davidson once said it took two years on the job to develop into a 'good' reporter. Kathy made it from Day One.

"She has a phenomenal memory and she is the ideal model of 'on the job training.' She is a great gal. She is so helpful to so many people. A friend of Kathy is a friend forever ... and I am proud to be among them."

'I COULD TRUST HER'

Former Daytona Beach police chief Paul Crow went to Mainland High with Kathy Kelly and has known her since she was 12 years old.

"All my life, my ace-in-the-hole has been Kathy," said Crow, who left as Daytona's public safety director in the mid-1990s after 29 years with the department. "I can't say enough about her."

Kelly was an award-winning reporter who covered his tenure as police chief in Daytona Beach and some of his biggest cases, including serial killer Gerald Stano. Kelly interviewed the killer several times in prison, too, and co-authored a book about Stano in 2011, called "I Would Find a Girl Walking."

But even more than their professional dealings, Kelly has been — and continues to be — a good friend, Crow said.

He recalled meeting with Kelly years ago when he was thinking about having a public information officer as a liaison between police and the media at the Daytona Beach police department. Crow said he was looking for better communication between the department and the media.

The former chief said Kelly and other members of The News-Journal staff met with him, and the office of public information officer was born at the Daytona Beach police department.

"Kathy taught me that I could trust her," Crow said, adding that many times relationships between law enforcement and reporters take years to develop.

PART OF THE FAMILY

Julia Truilo, executive director of Ormond Beach MainStreet Inc., is the daughter of Herbert M. "Tippen" Davidson and his wife, Josephine Field Davidson.

"My feeling about Kathy is she's a constant. She has been a presence in my life since I was aware of what was going on at The News-Journal. Kathy has been there."

Not only has Kelly been faithful to her job, but Truilo said "her faithfulness to her community is remarkable. She does everything quietly and efficiently. She doesn't ask people to notice her. She is a lodestar."

Her first experience with Kelly — other than when Truilo was a child tagging behind her mother — was when Kelly was a reporter and Truilo was a copy kid and a high school correspondent.

"Kathy was a big part of that experience," Truilo said. "The thing about Kathy I admire is her depth of knowledge about where she is and the people around her. She is one of those people where you don't need the library because Kathy remembers. I would say, 'Kathy, where do I find this? Where do I go for this?' She always had the answer. She was never too busy or amused by my innocence to help me."

"My dad and mom both loved Kathy and thought the world of her. I think that their affection for her is really why I understood more about how she works and who she is. They saw her as one of their children — somebody they brought up in the news business."

And Kelly's mom, Mary, who cooked in the News-Journal's former cafeteria, was "mom" to all the children of News-Journal employees, making "sure we got fed."

OVER THE YEARS

Jimmy Huger, former Volusia County Council member and Daytona Beach city commissioner, said Kathy Kelly is "a very dedicated worker. She followed through on everything she got involved in. I hate to see her retire, but a time comes when we move on to other things. She will be missed surely. She brought to the public a great deal of information that they could depend on to be correct.

"I had a great deal of dealings with her over the years as a city commissioner and county councilman. I follow her religiously," he added, referring to her column, "The Beat Goes On."

"I wish her the best for whatever she is going to do. She's a very active woman. She is certainly not going to sit down and do nothing. She is going to do a good job in whatever she is doing."

LOYALTY AND FRIENDSHIP

Georgia Kaney, former publisher of The News-Journal, followed Kathy Kelly's career for 45 years and said she is highly regarded in the community, as a reporter/editor and as a resource.

"She is a wonderful person," Kaney said, and a "really loyal person."

"She is trusted. She's loyal to her work, to her friends and family, and really to her whole community. When Kathy told me something, I always took it to heart," Kaney said. "She didn't tiptoe around the facts, but she was straight.

"She's a source for so many people. If you need a phone number or a person's birthday, people just call Kathy," she said. "She's very thoughtful and truly does care about everything good."

KATHY ALWAYS KNEW

Larry Kelly served as Daytona Beach mayor from 1974 to 1993, including during the time when Kathy Kelly was a police reporter. He said the best story about her was in the early 1980s when two men were trying to extort money from the city.

The men, Larry Kelly said, threatened to blow up various buildings in the city if he didn't pay them hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was involved, but everything was highly confidential, he said, with officials even using code names on the police scanner. He said his code name was Irish.

"Kathy picked up that there was high chatter on the channel about a high public official and extortion. She wanted to know what was going on," said Larry Kelly, no relation to Kathy. "It was a very high classified thing going on, but old Kathy, she snagged right onto that baby, she sure did.

"She never missed anything. There was nothing to hide on Kathy," he said.

The city never paid the money and the men were never caught, he said. Recently, he used one of her stories that she wrote in 1988 about a retiring police officer, Richard Zalewski. The article helped with his eulogy of Zalewski, who recently passed away.

"She goes back through a lot of history with the city," he added.

He said "sometimes politicians don't like reporters, but she was one of the greatest and still is. She is still doing good stories."

GROWING UP WITH KATHY

Lt. Ron Wright of South Daytona police has been reading articles written by Kathy Kelly since he was about 16 years old.

"I remember looking forward to reading her articles," said Wright, who will become interim police chief for South Daytona police. "She was on the police beat (at The News-Journal) when I was in high school. You knew what was going on when you read her stories because she covered all the bases."

Aside from hailing Kelly as a top-notch reporter, Wright also said she is a "very easy person to talk to."

The veteran cop said Kelly leaves a legacy for all reporters to follow. "That's why I've always called her the matriarch of the media," he said.

THE NEXT CHAPTER

Susan Richmond, director of the Ormond Memorial Art Museum, says she couldn't be happier with Kathy Kelly's retirement. That's because she has hired Kelly to work part-time for the museum starting next month, helping with communications and updating its website. Kelly also plans to travel and write in her retirement, and she will continue her twice-monthly column, "The Beat Goes On," in The News-Journal.

Richmond and Kelly have been friends for 20 years. Richmond remembers the two were on an outing a few years ago when Kelly began talking about her future.

"She said when I retire some day, I want something to do. I said we'd love to have you at the museum," Richmond said. "It was a casual conversation. I didn't think about it again."

But then recently, Kelly mentioned it again. "She said, 'we talked once.' ... I almost jumped out of my seat and said we'd love to have you."

The timing was perfect, Richmond said. The museum wanted to redesign its website and needed a fresh eye. Kelly has served as early morning online editor at the News-Journal, among her other duties, posting breaking news and other content to the website.

"She's just one of the most exceptionally kind and gifted people you'll ever meet," Richmond said.

<p><i>Assistant Managing Editor Kathy Kelly will retire from The News-Journal on Friday, capping a journalism career that began when she was 16 and led her to become an award-winning police reporter. She also connected readers with the area's history, and shared her views on life, home and friendship through her column, "The Beat Goes On," which will continue in The News-Journal. Even more important for those who worked with her, Kelly was the glue that held the newsroom together.</i></p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><h3>LIGHTING A FIRE</h3>
<p>Annye Piggotte was Kathy Kelly's English teacher at Mainland High School. She remembers Kelly asking her one day if she should try to be a high school correspondent for The News-Journal, writing up little items about high school happenings for the newspaper. </p><p>"At first she was a little reluctant," Piggotte recalled, "and I said, 'Go for it, girl,' and she's been with them ever since." </p><p>Just weeks after starting as a high school correspondent during her senior year, Kelly was hired by The Evening News on Sept. 28, 1963, as a "copy kid," taking stories from the newsroom to the composing room to be prepared for print. Two years later, Kelly joined the reporting staff and covered the police beat for more than 20 years. In the 1990s, she moved into editing and became an assistant managing editor in 1999. </p><p>Over the years, Kelly and Piggotte have stayed in touch, and share a love of books and reading. </p><p>"Kathy has always been loyal and dependable. She is a devoted friend, a lover of good literature and an avid reader. She has always taken her work seriously and she has always been concerned that she represent her community in a positive light," she said.</p><h3>EARNING RESPECT</h3>
<p>Dotti Lewis, community mental health activist and long-time political consultant, worked at The News-Journal from 1952 to 1974 as a reporter and editor. </p><p>"I guess I was a 'mentor,' of sorts to her," Lewis said about Kathy Kelly. "When she arrived, I was still a reporter and I had the fun of taking her around the police beat, which is where all new reporters started. This pretty teenager, straight out of high school, very politely introduced herself to the cops, deputies and FBI agents &mdash; but made it very clear even then that she was very serious about being a journalist. </p><p>"She told them she was going to print only the truth, but all the facts of every story. This drew many grins behind her back, but the law enforcement guys soon learned she was serious, and she gained both their respect and friendship. </p><p>"(Former News-Journal owner and publisher) Tippen Davidson once said it took two years on the job to develop into a 'good' reporter. Kathy made it from Day One. </p><p>"She has a phenomenal memory and she is the ideal model of 'on the job training.' She is a great gal. She is so helpful to so many people. A friend of Kathy is a friend forever ... and I am proud to be among them."</p><h3>'I COULD TRUST HER'</h3>
<p>Former Daytona Beach police chief Paul Crow went to Mainland High with Kathy Kelly and has known her since she was 12 years old. </p><p></p><p></p><p>"All my life, my ace-in-the-hole has been Kathy," said Crow, who left as Daytona's public safety director in the mid-1990s after 29 years with the department. "I can't say enough about her." </p><p></p><p>Kelly was an award-winning reporter who covered his tenure as police chief in Daytona Beach and some of his biggest cases, including serial killer Gerald Stano. Kelly interviewed the killer several times in prison, too, and co-authored a book about Stano in 2011, called "I Would Find a Girl Walking." </p><p></p><p>But even more than their professional dealings, Kelly has been &mdash; and continues to be &mdash; a good friend, Crow said. </p><p>He recalled meeting with Kelly years ago when he was thinking about having a public information officer as a liaison between police and the media at the Daytona Beach police department. Crow said he was looking for better communication between the department and the media. </p><p></p><p>The former chief said Kelly and other members of The News-Journal staff met with him, and the office of public information officer was born at the Daytona Beach police department. </p><p></p><p>"Kathy taught me that I could trust her," Crow said, adding that many times relationships between law enforcement and reporters take years to develop.</p><h3>PART OF THE FAMILY</h3>
<p>Julia Truilo, executive director of Ormond Beach MainStreet Inc., is the daughter of Herbert M. "Tippen" Davidson and his wife, Josephine Field Davidson. </p><p>"My feeling about Kathy is she's a constant. She has been a presence in my life since I was aware of what was going on at The News-Journal. Kathy has been there." </p><p>Not only has Kelly been faithful to her job, but Truilo said "her faithfulness to her community is remarkable. She does everything quietly and efficiently. She doesn't ask people to notice her. She is a lodestar." </p><p>Her first experience with Kelly &mdash; other than when Truilo was a child tagging behind her mother &mdash; was when Kelly was a reporter and Truilo was a copy kid and a high school correspondent. </p><p>"Kathy was a big part of that experience," Truilo said. "The thing about Kathy I admire is her depth of knowledge about where she is and the people around her. She is one of those people where you don't need the library because Kathy remembers. I would say, 'Kathy, where do I find this? Where do I go for this?' She always had the answer. She was never too busy or amused by my innocence to help me." </p><p></p><p>"My dad and mom both loved Kathy and thought the world of her. I think that their affection for her is really why I understood more about how she works and who she is. They saw her as one of their children &mdash; somebody they brought up in the news business." </p><p></p><p>And Kelly's mom, Mary, who cooked in the News-Journal's former cafeteria, was "mom" to all the children of News-Journal employees, making "sure we got fed."</p><h3>OVER THE YEARS</h3>
<p>Jimmy Huger, former Volusia County Council member and Daytona Beach city commissioner, said Kathy Kelly is "a very dedicated worker. She followed through on everything she got involved in. I hate to see her retire, but a time comes when we move on to other things. She will be missed surely. She brought to the public a great deal of information that they could depend on to be correct. </p><p></p><p>"I had a great deal of dealings with her over the years as a city commissioner and county councilman. I follow her religiously," he added, referring to her column, "The Beat Goes On." </p><p></p><p>"I wish her the best for whatever she is going to do. She's a very active woman. She is certainly not going to sit down and do nothing. She is going to do a good job in whatever she is doing."</p><h3>LOYALTY AND FRIENDSHIP</h3>
<p>Georgia Kaney, former publisher of The News-Journal, followed Kathy Kelly's career for 45 years and said she is highly regarded in the community, as a reporter/editor and as a resource. </p><p>"She is a wonderful person," Kaney said, and a "really loyal person." </p><p>"She is trusted. She's loyal to her work, to her friends and family, and really to her whole community. When Kathy told me something, I always took it to heart," Kaney said. "She didn't tiptoe around the facts, but she was straight. </p><p></p><p>"She's a source for so many people. If you need a phone number or a person's birthday, people just call Kathy," she said. "She's very thoughtful and truly does care about everything good."</p><h3>KATHY ALWAYS KNEW</h3>
<p>Larry Kelly served as Daytona Beach mayor from 1974 to 1993, including during the time when Kathy Kelly was a police reporter. He said the best story about her was in the early 1980s when two men were trying to extort money from the city. </p><p>The men, Larry Kelly said, threatened to blow up various buildings in the city if he didn't pay them hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was involved, but everything was highly confidential, he said, with officials even using code names on the police scanner. He said his code name was Irish. </p><p>"Kathy picked up that there was high chatter on the channel about a high public official and extortion. She wanted to know what was going on," said Larry Kelly, no relation to Kathy. "It was a very high classified thing going on, but old Kathy, she snagged right onto that baby, she sure did. </p><p>"She never missed anything. There was nothing to hide on Kathy," he said. </p><p>The city never paid the money and the men were never caught, he said. Recently, he used one of her stories that she wrote in 1988 about a retiring police officer, Richard Zalewski. The article helped with his eulogy of Zalewski, who recently passed away. </p><p>"She goes back through a lot of history with the city," he added. </p><p>He said "sometimes politicians don't like reporters, but she was one of the greatest and still is. She is still doing good stories."</p><h3>GROWING UP WITH KATHY</h3>
<p>Lt. Ron Wright of South Daytona police has been reading articles written by Kathy Kelly since he was about 16 years old. </p><p>"I remember looking forward to reading her articles," said Wright, who will become interim police chief for South Daytona police. "She was on the police beat (at The News-Journal) when I was in high school. You knew what was going on when you read her stories because she covered all the bases." </p><p>Aside from hailing Kelly as a top-notch reporter, Wright also said she is a "very easy person to talk to." </p><p>The veteran cop said Kelly leaves a legacy for all reporters to follow. "That's why I've always called her the matriarch of the media," he said.</p><h3>THE NEXT CHAPTER</h3>
<p>Susan Richmond, director of the Ormond Memorial Art Museum, says she couldn't be happier with Kathy Kelly's retirement. That's because she has hired Kelly to work part-time for the museum starting next month, helping with communications and updating its website. Kelly also plans to travel and write in her retirement, and she will continue her twice-monthly column, "The Beat Goes On," in The News-Journal. </p><p>Richmond and Kelly have been friends for 20 years. Richmond remembers the two were on an outing a few years ago when Kelly began talking about her future. </p><p>"She said when I retire some day, I want something to do. I said we'd love to have you at the museum," Richmond said. "It was a casual conversation. I didn't think about it again." </p><p>But then recently, Kelly mentioned it again. "She said, 'we talked once.' ... I almost jumped out of my seat and said we'd love to have you." </p><p></p><p>The timing was perfect, Richmond said. The museum wanted to redesign its website and needed a fresh eye. Kelly has served as early morning online editor at the News-Journal, among her other duties, posting breaking news and other content to the website. </p><p>"She's just one of the most exceptionally kind and gifted people you'll ever meet," Richmond said.</p>